Float glass export to India may fall

The export potential of clear float glass (CFG) from Bangladesh to India will face a setback if New Delhi imposes anti-dumping duty on the imports to shield local manufacturers, industry people say.

An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.    In June this year, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) of India initiated an investigation into the CFG export from Bangladesh.

It came after four Indian companies sought the anti-dumping inquiry on the imports of the item from Bangladesh and Thailand, according to the website of the DGTR.   "We have held three or four hearings so far on the complaint. We have produced all the documents about the complaint," said Md Hafizur Rahman, additional secretary of the commerce ministry of Bangladesh.

The last hearing of the inquiry is scheduled to be held virtually today.

The local stakeholders in the rising float glass industry have already placed their arguments to avoid the tariff measure, said Rahman, also the director-general of the WTO Cell under the commerce ministry.    Nasir Uddin Biswas, chairman and managing director of Nasir Group of Industries, one of the companies facing the complaint, says the country has already sent all the required information for the hearing.

The outcome of the investigation may be known soon as the hearing is coming to an end, he added.

Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin. The method gives the sheet uniform thickness and very flat surfaces.

The glasses are used as windows and in the refrigeration, construction, automobiles, mirror and solar energy industries.

In Bangladesh, 35,000 tonnes of CFG are produced every year to meet local demand.

"The export volume of the locally produced CFG to India is too low to injure the markets in the neighbouring country," said Sultan Mahmud, assistant general manager of PHP Float Glass Industries Ltd.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, PHP used to ship 400 to 500 tonnes of CFG to India every month. The shipment has been disrupted due to the severe fallouts of the pandemic.

The export may resume as the government is providing some stimulus on the overseas sales of the item, said Mahmud.  Bangladesh mainly ships CFG to Kolkata, Siliguri and the north-eastern states of India. In 2020, exporters shipped the products worth $8 million.   Altogether, 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes of CFG might be exported to the Indian markets every month, industry people say. 

The rapid urbanisation and the growing use of cars have pushed up the consumption of CFG in Bangladesh, with PHP, Nasir Glass, and state-run Usmania Glass Sheet Factory Ltd meeting 90 per cent of the demand.

India has slapped anti-dumping duty on Bangladeshi jute and jute goods.